The Facts

1985 will see more teenagers in the world than ever hefore The worldwide 'baby bulge' of the 1970s has hecome the ‘teenage bulge' of the 1980s.

The world will have one billion adolescents (10-19 years) in 1985.

And there will he more teenagers then (as a proportion of society) than there will ever be again.

Where the billion live

In 1985:

122m

Africa

91m

Latin America

38m

North America

74m

Europe

4.5m

Oceania

269m

East Asia (including China)

360m

Rest of Asia (including Middle East)

Source: Demographic Indicators of Countries, UN (1980 figures).

age 11-12

More schools

Secondary school enrolment in the developing countries has risen faster than the school age population. So a larger proportion of adolescents is now in school - and it looks like the proportion will he even higger hy the year 2000.

1960

1980

2000

Africa

5%

21%

43%

Asia

20%

30%

50%

Latin America

14%

45%

67%

Percentage of age group

Rising literacy

Literacy rates for adolescent girls are improving, but they remain lower than for boys.

1960

1980

Africa

Boys

27%

52%

Girls

11%

27%

Asia

Boys

55%

70%

Girls

35%

47%

Latin America

Boys

72%

82%

Girls

63%

77%

Percentage of literate over-15s

Source: Summary Statistical Re view of Education, UNESCO, 1981

age 13-14

Sexual awakening

Sexual awakening is one of the headier delights of adolescence. But sex without contraception is unsafe for teenage girls because motherhood limits a girl's life-chances. Most teenagers who become mothers drop out of school. And early pregnancy shard on young bodies. Maternal mortality is higher during adolescence than after 20 - especially in the poor world where girls are undernourished.

. Of more than a million US teenage pregnancies a year, at least two-thirds are unplanned and some 430,000 end in abortion.

. In clinics for sexually transmitted diseases in the UK, 40-50% of the patients are under 20.

. Infant mortality is 2.4 times higher for babies born to mothers under 15 than to mothers in their early twenties.

. In Bangladesh, pregnancy and childbirth difficulties are the biggest cause of death among girls 15-19.

age 15-19

Teenage mothers

More babies are being born to teenage mothers than ever hefore.

. In Indonesia, 41% of all women have their first baby before they are 17.

. In the Caribhean, 58% of first babies are born to mothers under 19. A quarter of first babies have mothers under 17.

. In most African and Latin American countries more than one in ten girls (15-19 years) has a baby. In Bangladesh, one in five teenage girls has a baby.

The world bought 900 million LPs in 1982, not to mention 680 million singles/EPs and 570 million music tapes. That’s a staggering $11.2 billion’s worth - and since almostall of them are produced in the West, it’s not surprising that ‘youth culture’ all over the world has a heavily Anglo-American flavour.

Who sells them:
Virtually all are produced by just 5 multinational companies: CBS. RCA. WEA, EMI and Polygram.

Permission to marry

Boy meets girl - but they can’t marry until society gives them permission: the authority of the parent is backed by the authority of law.

Minimum legal age

with
parental consent

without parental consent

M

F

M

F

Argentina

16

14

21

21

China

-

-

22

20

Cuba

16

14

18

18

France

18

15

18

18

Hong Kong

16

16

21

21

Indonesia

19

16

21

21

Iran

20

18

-

-

Norway

18

18

20

20

Papua New Guinea

18

16

21

21

Portugal

16

14

21

21

Senegal

20

1 6

20

1 6

Singapore

18

18

21

21

Somalia

any

16

any

18

Sweden

18

18

18

18

Thailand

17

17

20

20

USSR

18

18

18

18

Fewer girl brides

But society at large can also protect the young from the pressure of their elders.

. Child marriage without the consent of one or both partners is prohibited by a United Nations Convention adopted in 1962, ratified by at least 38 states. During the past generation over 50 countries have passed laws changing the age of marriage which reduce parental power:

. Parental consent is irrelevant in most Eastern European countries: the legal minimum is 18 years regardless of consent. And these countries have also introduced sexual equality: both boys and girls need to be 18 to marry.

. A young girl can no longer be married off to a much older man in the Yemen People’s Democratic Republic. Marriages where the spouses have an age differential of more than 20 years are prohibited, until the woman is over 35.

. In almost all European countries adolescents can marry below the legal minimum without parental permission - if they can persuade the courts (or government authorities) of their special circumstances.

Many countries have raised the minimum age for marriage in order to lower the population rate. In India, a Bill raising the minimum age from 15 to 18 for girls and from 18 to 21 for boys, was introduced in 1976.

But social reforms can be more effective than legal reforms in raising the actual age at which people marry. In Sri Lanka the minimum age was still legally 12 for girls and 16 for boys even in the 1970s - but the average actual age at marriage has been rising as a result of more schools and jobs for women.

Source: International Planned Parenthood Federation

The right to vote

Most societies consider adolescents old enough to vote afterthey are 18. But in some societies you also need to be male, or literate, or under 60. or have even more specialised qualifications

Bolivia

18. if married; 21 if single.

Brazil

18; no vote for illiterates.

Chile

No-one votes.

China

18

Cuba

16

Dominican Republic

18 - or any age if married. Voting is compulsory except for the police and armed forces - who have no vote.

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